Dyeing process



David I. Randall, New Vernon, and Wilhelm ness properties and the like. r

A number ofdyeing processes are known in which dye- Delaware v No Drawing. Filed Dec. 19, 1961, Ser. No. 5 Claims. (Cl. 8-'-54. 2)

This invention relates to a novel dyeing process, and

p more particularly to a process for coloring fibers and the like with a group of dyestuffs effective for producing- United States Patent colored products in any desired sha'desof improved fastings of improved fastness properties are obtained by reaction between-the dyestufi and the? fiber. Among the large number of reactive dye classes proposedfor use in such processes, only a few are commercially useful. These are the cyanuric, the pyrimidine and the vinyl'lsulfone or sulfatoethylsulfone types. These types have suf-I ficient reactivity with the fiberto be applied at the usual 1 dyeing temperatures of'boiling or below, but are somewhat expensive .to produce and are generally not iiutficiently stahle to or applicable in the wide range of pH conditions often found necessary. in treating ditferent types of fibers. Further, the dyeings produced with these dyestuffs have more orless pronounced tendencies 'to hydrolyze with cleavage'of the dye-fiber linkage. For

example, the dyestuff-fiber linkages derived from the cya-.

nuric and pyrimidine types of' reactive dyes hydrolyze on standing in dilute acids. On the other hand, the dyestufffiber linkages derived from reactive dyestuffs of the vinyl It is an object of this invention topr'ovide a novel process for coloring fibers and other articles in any desired 3,133,053 Patented May. 11, 1965 prisingly good fas'tnessproperties particularly wash fas'tness and fastness to light and to alkaline and acid perspiis much more ration and the like. Further, the proces fapplieation and stable to acid and alkaline conditions of the resulting colored products have improved stability to both acid and basic hydrolytic cleavage of the dyestufffiber linkage. p p In the above formula, Pcy may represent an unmetalnesium, chromium, and other metal. phthalocyanines.

' Further, Pcy may represent, whethermetallized or unmetallized, a phthalocyanine molecule unsubstituted or nuclearly substituted by one or more lower alkyl such as methyl, halogen such as chlorine or. bromine, or phenyl in the said formula may groups. I

the-above-formula are bondedto fundamentalphen'ylene nucleiin the phthalocyanine' molecule. However, when Pcy represents a phenyl-substituted phthalocyanine mole- Ordinarily, the right and lefthand portions in cule, none, some or all of the right and left hand portions be bonded to the phenyl sub stituent or substituents. 1 a

In the above formula,'A' represents a divalent aliphatic j bridging link which is joined to the remainder of the sulfone or sulfatoethylsulfonetype are not stable to attack by strong aqueous alkali. 1

shades of improved fastness properties. Another object I Q of this invention is the Pr vision of a process for coloring fibers, particularlytextile fibers and the like, which will not be subject toone or more of the above disadvantages. Other objects and {advantages will appear as the description'pro'ceeds. e

I The attainment of'the above objects is made possible by this invention which comprises a process for coloring fibers containing a reactive hydrogen atom including the step of treating the fibers under acid binding conditions with an aqueous dispersion of a compound having: the

lected from the group consisting of 0, S, CO, NR, CRR

bracketed portion of the formula through a terminal carbon atom. The bridge, if present (a is 1), may contain from 1 to 18 or more linking C, S, O or N atoms in the chain or any combination thereof. Since Ais joined to the remainder 'of the bracketed portion through a terminal carbon atom, the bridging link must always include as therighthand terminus a CO or CRR link. The bridging link may consist of one or a plurality-of CRR groups with no hetero atoms in the bridge, or it may contain one or more hetero links such as O, S, CO, or NR or combinations thereof. that the aforementioned bridging links may be combined in anymanner, number and/or order. -R in these bridgvalues disclosed elsewhere herein.

and R in the above formula may represent H, alkyl of 1 to18 carbon atoms including stearyl but preferably lower alkyl of '-1 to 3 carbon atoms, such as methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, the corresponding acetylenically unsaturated alkyls (alkynyl), the corresponding-ethylenically unsaturated alkyls- (alkenyl), benzyl,= cyclohexyl,

phenyl, naphthyl, furyl, and other heterocyclic groups joined through a carbon atom to the depicted carbon .atom, and X-substituted derivatives thereof. It will be chain-interrupted by hetero atoms such as O, S, N, and

v the like. Preferably R; is H and R is CRR-X.

In the above formula, X preferably represents a sulfate l or chloride anion although it may if desired represent the anion of any other strong acid having a dissociation constant greater than .2.0 10- including for example the and combinations thereof, and is joined to the remainder of the bracketed portion of the formula through a terrninal carbon atom,

(e) M' is selected from the group consisting of H,

I alkali, ammonium, and amine cations, y

anions of hydrobromic, hydrofluoric, iodic (HI), phosphoric, phosphonic, phosphinic, organic sulfonic (sulto said carbon atom through a bridging link of the type fonyloxy), trichloroacetic, dichloracetic, chloracetic, formic and the like.

'Itwill .be noted that the N atom in said fiber-reactive group is bonded to aliphatic carbon atoms only and "the the X-bonded carbon atom may, less desirably, be bonded It will accordinglybe understood J described above without unduly affecting the reactivity of said fiber-reactive group with the fiber. Y

M in the above formula may represent H, alkali metals such as sodium, potassium and lithium, ammonium, or aliphatic, alicyclic, aromatic or heterocyclic amines .ruch as mono-, di-, and tri-ethanol-, -propanol-, -mei ayl-, -ethyl-, and -propylamines, cyclohexylamine, morpho .ine, pyridine, picoline, and the like. The dyestuff of the above formula may be devoid of sulfonic groups (m is zero) in which case the dyestuff is water insoluble unless X is OSO H or equivelent. Since water solubility ofthe dyestulf is preferred for ease of application thereof, m preferably has a value of 1 to 3, although as previo Jsly stated sulfonic acid groups are not necessary when I( is a solubilizing group such as OSO H. The dyestutf may be provided with sulfonic acid groups by sulfonation of the fundamental phthalocyanine molecule or the final dyestulf of the above formula in known manner.

In the above formula, n has a value of at least 1, and usually 1 to 4. Values of up to 8, representing two bracketed substituents in each of the four phenylene rings of the fundamental phthalocyanine nucleus, are also operative although not particularly practical since the inclusion of so many fiber-reactive groups into the phthalocyanine molecule is usually unnecessary and uneconomical.

The above defined phthalocyanine dyestuffs employed in the process of this invention may in general be prepared by reacting n moles of a secondary amine compound of the formula R CRRNHCRRCRR-OH with one mole of a phthalocyanine compound of the formula (MO S), Pcy--[A-halogen] or one mole of a phthalocyanine compound of the formula wherein all the variables have the values given above and halogen represents for example bromine, iodine, or preferably chlorine, the reaction being carried but preferably in the presence of an acid binding agent of the type described infra in view of the concurrent liberation of a hydrohalide. The resulting intermediate is then reacted with HX or equivalent to substitute the OH group in the secondary amine residue by X. Alternatively, these reactions may be carried out using a similar secondary amine compound but wherein the OH is X, thereby eliminating subsequent reaction with HX.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment, a phthalocyanine dyestuff, sulfonated or unsulfonated and unsubstituted or substituted as described above is chloromethylated in known manner, as by reaction with bischloromethyl ether or equivalent, to introduce n chloromethyl groups, reaction of the chloromethylated phthalocyanine with n moles of a secondary amine compound as described above, followed by reaction of the resulting intermediate with HX or equivalent. Thus, one mole of copper phthalocyanine may be His-chloromethylated, the resulting tris-chloromethylated copper phthalocyanine reacted with three moles of diethanolamine, and the resulting intermediate sulfated to produce a fiber-reactive phthalocyanine dyestuff operative herein having the formula CU Fey 5. 2] 3 Another method of preparing phthalocyanine dyestuffs operative herein involves, for example, reaction of 11 moles of fi-chloropropionylchloride, n being 1 to 4, with one mole of amino copper phthalocyanine containing 1 to 4 amino groups, reacting the resulting intermediate of the formula CuPcy--(NH-COCI-l -CI-I Cl) with n moles of a secondary amine compound as described above followed by reaction with HX or equivalent such as HCl, thionylchloride, etc. to produce a dyestuff of the formula followed by reaction with HX or equivalent to produce fiber-reactive dyestuffs of the formula C RR-R Icy- C Hg-N1 --C OC H -N 0 R R-C n R-X In these and other reactions for the formation of operative dyestuffs herein, the dyestuff may be sulfonated in known manner to water solubilize same when necessary.

The phthalocyanine compounds employed in this invention are highly effective for coloring natural and synthetic fibers, particularly cellulosictextile fibers, in any desired shades of good to excellent fastness properties. The coloring process involves dyeing (including printing) the fibrous materials by application thereto under acid-binding conditions of an aqueous dispersion of the defined phthalocyanine compound at any temperature ranging from ambient temperatures to the boiling point of the medium. The dispersion may have a pH ranging from about 4 to 14 although alkaline conditions are preferred. It will be understood that as employed herein, the term aqueous dispersion is intended to include solutions, dispersions, or stable colloidal suspensions of the reactive phthalocyanine compound, appropriately thickened in known manner when employed in a printing process. The aqueous dispersion may be applied by immersion, jig dyeing, padding, spraying, printing or in any other desired manner.

'Although aqueous dispersions are disclosed and claimed for use in the present process, it will be understood that this is only the preferred embodiment and that the water in the aqueous medium may be replaced in whole or in part by a water miscible, polar organic solvent such as acetone, alcohol, dioxane, dimethylformamide, or the like without departing from the scope of this invention. It will likewise be understood that the medium containing the reactive phthalocyanine compounds described above may contain adjuvants commonly used in dyeing processes as for example solution aids such as urea and thiodiglycol, migration inhibitors such as cellulose ethers, sodium chloride, sodium sulfate and other salts, wetting agents preferably of the nonionic surface active type as produced for example by polyoxyethylenation of such reactive hydrogen containing compounds as higher molecular weight alcohols, phenols, fatty acids, and the like, and thickening agents for the production of printing pastes such as methyl cellulose, starch, gum arabic, gum tragacanth, locust bean gum, sodium alginate, and the like.

The reaction between the reactive phthalocyanine compound and the fiber containing a reactive hydrogen atom involves liberation of acid HX and the reaction is accordingly favored by acid binding conditions. As acid binding agents which may be added to the dispersion of reactive phthalocyanine compounds, there may be mentioned generally alkali metal (sodium, potassium, lithium,

etc.) hydroxide, carbonate, bicarbonate, phosphate, silicate, borate, acetate or the like, or an organic base such as triethanolamine or the like, in an amount suflicient to neutralize the liberated HX in whole or in part. Such amount may range from less than 0.5% up to 10% or more in the dispersion. It should be noted however quite often the provision of the required acid binding conditions does not require the addition of any of the above mentioned acid binding, alkaline reacting agents. This may occur in those instances wherein the reactive phthalocyanine compound, which is usually applied in concentrations of about 0.5 to 10% or more in the medium or O.W.F. (on the weight of the fiber), contains a relatively large number of bracketed substituents, the basic amino groups therein serving to bind the acid liberated in the reaction. In these-instances, it is feasible and sometimes preferable to carry out the dyeing process under acidic conditions.

In carrying out the coloring process, the speed of reaction, and hence the time of contact between the fiber being dyed and the reactive phthalocyanine compound,

will generally vary inversely with the temperature. The

fiber may for example be continuously padded with the aqueous dispersion of reactive phthalocyaninecompound, squeezed to, for example, a 50 to 200% liquor pickup, dried and heated at 200 to 500 F. for an hour or more to 30 seconds or less. Alternatively, the fiber may be allowed to remain in contact with the aqueous dispersion of reactive dyestutf until the reactive dyeing process is completed, which may range from minutes or less to two hours or more, followed by washing and rinsing.

The process of this invention has been found to be highly effective for dyeing and printing cellulosic fibers of natural or synthetic type such as cotton,,linen, wood, paper, regenerated cellulose and the like in any'desired shades of good to excellent fastness properties. As a result of the reactive dyeing process of this invention, such dyed or printed cellulosic fibers may be ascribed the formula CRR-R CRRN/ A L\ A wherein Fiber represents a cellulose molecule deprived of a reactive hydrogen atom as originally present fotexample in hydroxy groups therein. When a reactive phthalocyanine compound contains two or more fiber-reactive groups, a further fiber cross-linking reaction is made possible, whereby the product could be ascribed the formula (103 )in y cRa-oRR-mbern'.

in which Ms for Examples 2 to 8 and the cellulose fibers may be the same or different.

In addition to cellulose and its derivatives, the process of this invention may be employed for dyeing other fibers containing reactive hydrogen atoms as present for example directly on a carbon, nitrogen, or other atom in the linear chain of the fiber polymer, or in a free side group bonded directly or indirectly thereto such, as -NRH, SH, -OH, -CRRH, etc. The resulting dyeings may be ascribed formulae similar to that ofthe cellulose dyeing described above. As representative of such other fibers, there maybe mentioned natural iand synthetic proteinaceous fibers such as wool, silk, leather, animal hides and skins, casein, and zein, polyamides such as the 6- and 66-nylons and polypyrrolidone, polyure- 6 The following examples are only representative of the present invention and are not to be regarded as limitative. All parts and proportions referred to herein and .in the appended claims are by weight unless otherwise indicated.

' Example 1 3 parts of the dyestuff of the formula CuPCyE wherein CuPcy represents copper phthalocyanine, are dispersed in 100 parts of water containing 3 parts of soda ash. Prepared cotton sheeting is padded with this aqueous I Example 2 The procedure of Example I is repeated except that instead of drying for 40 minutes at 210 F., the goods are processed through a curing range set at 300-310" F. for 3 minutes or 360 F. for 90 seconds. Similar results are obtained.

- I Example 3 3 parts of the dyestufi of Example 1 and 10 parts of urea are dissolved in 40 parts of water at 120-140 F. This solutionis poured into parts of sodium alginate 4% solution and 2 parts of soda ash are dissolved in the resulting past'e'at 80 F. Cotton goods are then printed with the paste, dried and steamed 5 to 10 minutes at atmospheric pressure in a neutral steamer. After aging, the goods are rinsed cold and soaped 5 minutes at the 'boil in a solution containing 2 lbs. soda ash and 2 lbs.

Igepal CO-630 (polyoxyethylenated nonylphenol) per 100 gal. water. The goods are then rinsed and dried. Powerful prints of a bright turquoise shade are obtained having excellent wash fastness and light fastness.

Example 4 Cotton goods are printed as described in Example 3, but instead of steaming, the color is fixed by heating in an oven at a temperature of 200-360 F. Similar results are obtained.

1 In the above examples, the soda ash or caustic soda thanes, polyesters, copolymers or homopolymers containing recurring carboxylic or cyano groups, polyv nyl alcohol, partially hydrolyzed cellulose acetate and polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl chloride, and mixtures, copolymers and graft copolymers thereof. Mixed fabrics and fibers may likewise be so treated.

The fibers may be in any of the usual forms and in natural bulk, interwoven, knitted or felted form as for example, in the form of staple fiber or continuous filaments in bulk form or in the form of tow, rope, yarns, slubbings, warps, fabrics, felts, and the like, and treated as a wound package, running length, fibrous stock, bulk, etc. Further, although this invention has been described for use in the coloration of fibrous material, it will be understood that the process may be employed for dyeing other articles including film and sheet material, and other objects of any size, shape and configuration without de parting from the spirit and scope of this invention.

may be omitted and the dyeing carried out at a pH as low as 3.5. The dyestulf in each instance reacts with the fiber to produce dyeings and prints with excellent (a) the bracketed portion of the formula is directly joined to the Pcy moiety,

(b) X is the anion of phosphoric acid,

(c) Pcy represents a phthalocyanine molecule,

( 35) Ill cy rwherein 7 8 (d) A represents a divalent aliphatic bridging link se- 3. A process as defined in claim 1 wherein Pcy reprelected from the group consisting of sents copper phthalocyanine.

o R n 4. A process as defined inclaim 3 wherein the fibers l 1 are cellulose fibers.

' 5 5. A process as defined in claim 4 wherein a has a R value of 0. and combinations thereof, and is joined to the remainder of the bracketed portion of the formula References Cited by the Examiner through a terminal carbon atom, (e) M is selected from the group consisting of H, 10 UNITED STATES PATENTS alkali, ammonium, and amine cations, 3,053,849 9/ 62 Clark et (f) m has a value f 0 to 3, 3,062,830 11/62 Buc et a1. 8--1.3 (g) a has a value of 0 to 1, and 3,066,005 11/62 Wedemeyer et a1 8-1.2

(h) n has a value of at least 1. NORMAN G TORCHIN P U E 2. A process as defined in claim 1 wherein the fibers 15 nmary mmmer' are cellulose fibers. MORRIS O. WOLK, Examiner. 

1. IN A PROCESS FOR COLORING FIBERS CONTAINING A REACTIVE HYDROGEN ATOM, THE STEP OF TREATING THE FIBERS: (1) UNDER ACID BINDING CONDITIONS, WITH (2) AN AQUEOUS DISPERSION OF A (3) A COMPOUND OF THE FORMULA 